Anne – “Joey” was on the same album as Hurricane, and it was topical – although in that case I think he was glorifying a thug who could wow celebs at cocktail parties with his ability to cite “Nietzsche and Wilhelm Reich.”

In any case, I’ve never been impressed with Masters of War. I wince listening to it actually. I think he probably did too.

I’ve never been impressed with Masters of War. I wince listening to it actually. I think he probably did too.

That was my point. And maybe he winces when he hears Hurricane now too.I don’t know. I was just saying that it is a throwback of sorts to his earlier topical songs. And I’m sure there are other exceptions like, “Joey”. But he radically changed the content of his songwriting around 64 when he freed himself from the topical themes and went on to do his best work, the music which made him a true revolutionary in the field of rocknroll.

I always thought Blowin in the Wind had some nice imagery and poetry to it. I don’t know when he wrote that one or the Times they are a Changin, but both were nicely written. Masters of War is something I’d expect of a radicalized freshman in college who just learned a few chords and can make things rhyme.

I can’t remember his name, but there was a movement guy popular in the Bay Area during the 1980s whose lyrics I couldn’t stand. He wrote these lines, probably the worst ever.

I’ve seen you kill Black Panthers and Malcolm X
And I’m going to watch you die, just like the dinosaur Tyrannosaurus Rex

Especially pathetic is that he felt the need to compromise the meter in order to make sure his audience understood that the Tyrannosaurus Rex was a dinosaur. I guess most radicals are liberal arts majors, and don’t learn that stuff.